Blame it on the Mistletoe
by Chasyn
Summary: It was all the mistletoe's fault. (Gay Owen and Zach, cuz Owen/Zach. Short, drabble, Christmas party, mistletoe.)


OMG! So... at work... I've been listening to my Christmas playlist on my phone on shuffle, which is like 300ish songs, kid friendly, all Christmas related. And the phone kept playing the same song, over and over again, every few songs, I swear! Like 20 times! IT WAS A SIGN! I WAS MEANT TO BE INSPIRED BY IT! _Blame it on the Mistletoe_ by Toby Keith. But really, the only thing related is the title. XD If you listen to the song lyrics, very different scenario. Although, I kinda wanna write that now, too. ANYWAYS! I finally had time to sit down and write this today. So written in one day, while whining to my Discord peeps about it. I DID IT, TIG! SEE?! So here ya go!

Owen/Zach, gay characters, silly Christmas thing!

**Blame it on the Mistletoe**

It was a lame office Christmas party. But it was better than staying back at the hotel with his little brother. Gray was more interested in studying and working on some assignment he had due in a few weeks. Honestly, Zach had no clue why the kid had to finish an assignment that was just assigned. And why the hell did the teacher assign a big project right before Christmas break? But whatever. The brothers were spending the holiday on the island with their aunt. Neither was sure exactly why. Both figured it was because their parents couldn't play nice with each other and they couldn't decide which of them would get the brothers this year. Although it was just as weird that aunt Claire had offered for them to come to the island for the holiday. Honestly, the whole thing was weird. But it was better than staying at his empty college dorm.

Or maybe it wasn't, Zach thought, as he looked around. There was decorations and food and music playing. Cheesy Christmas songs but he still swayed a bit to the beats. He couldn't help it, it was infectious, songs he'd heard a million times over the years. There were lots of people milling around. Zach knew a few of them, from other visits he made to the island over the past couple years. He waved at Zara, said hi to Reese, and hid from Lowery. He'd seen Simon at some point, but the man had excused himself for a phone call. He hadn't seen much of Claire, either. But that was perfectly fine with him.

Across the room, Owen stood, just as bored. It was the same decorations used every year. Same music and same kinds of food. Claire threw the same exact party every year. And Barry dragged him every year. He'd much rather be back at the paddock with the raptors. Or at home, sleeping. Or working on his motorcycle or hell, he'd even settle for doing paperwork! Anywhere but... His gaze settled on the bored looking brunet, half dancing to some country Christmas song. Their eyes met across the room and Owen swore he felt a jolt of electricity run down his spine. He'd glimpsed the younger man before, a few times.

The brunet smiled. He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he clearly checked Owen out. And he was being none too shy about it, either. And yeah, the image was enough for Owen. Barry was blathering on about something but Owen ignored him as he simply walked away, leaving his friend standing there, stunned. He made a beeline for the brunet and mulled over the man's name in his head. They'd been introduced once before, very briefly and it had been months ago he was sure. Or maybe a year. He swore he knew the name. It was on the tip of his...

"Mr. Grady." The man said smoothly/

Owen stopped and wrinkled his nose. He shook his head. "It's Owen." He corrected with an easy smile.

"Oh I know." Zach said with a smirk.

"You do... Zach?" Owen hesitated as the name came out more as a question.

Zach nodded. "I know exactly who you are."

Owen shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head, not really sure where to go from there.

Zach swayed slightly on his feet to the music. "You know..." He said softly, sidling up closer to the man beside him. "I was warned against you."

"Yeah?" Owen's eyebrows piqued. "By who?"

Zach smirked as he twirled around and moved a couple steps away. "Everyone." He answered.

Owen followed, trying to keep an appropriate amount of distance between them. But he was quickly failing the whole causal sort of talking and sort of dancing thing. "What'd they say?"

Zach glanced over his shoulder and smirked again. "That you go after everything that moves."

Owen stopped and wondered exactly who had been talking about him. Who exactly was everyone? Or was the young man just exaggerating? He could guess at one person, because she'd yelled at him right after introducing him to her nephew. Owen couldn't help the way his eyes lingered when the man turned. Because damn, he was interested. And screw her warnings. Owen was still interested after the few months or year or however long it had been. The only question was, "Still interested?"

Zach turned around and tilted his head. "Hottest guy here with the coolest job asks me if I'm still interested."

Owen darted in closer and wrapped his arm around Zach's waist loosely. "Second hottest." He corrected. "Still coolest job."

Zach leaned back a bit, just enough to wrap both his arms around Owen's neck. "Well... we are standing under the mistletoe."

Owen glanced up and saw the small bundle of leaves, tied with a red ribbon and hovering just above their heads. A smile spread across his lips. "You saw that, didn't you?"

Zach tilted his head again. "Maybe."

"Well... don't want to break a holiday tradition."

Zach shook his head. "We can't, it's like a rule." He tried to say it with a straight face but he failed and a giggle escaped his chest. He dipped his head forward a bit as the giggles kept coming. And it was infectious, because Owen let out a giggle and couldn't stop. He touched his forehead to Zach's and for a few moments, they just giggled together. And then they both stilled, catching their breath for a moment. Zach sighed out and smirked again. Owen didn't wait any longer. He leaned forward and captured the younger man's lips. Zach fisted his hands in Owen's hair, Owen tightened his grip around Zach's waist, and for a moment, both forgot everything else. They forgot everything around them, everyone around them. And they fact that they were in a very crowded albeit very large board room in the middle of a stuffy office Christmas party.

"OWEN GRADY!" Her shrill voice carried through the room and cut through the music.

They immediately detached themselves and jumped away. They turned to watch her, eyes wide.

"Kindly detach yourself from my underage nephew!" She snapped as she stalked across the room towards them. The crowd around parted, wanting to distance themselves from their screaming boss. The music was cut off.

Owen's eyes widened. "Underage?"

"He's 15!" Claire snapped.

Zach's mouth dropped open. "I'm 20!" He shouted.

Owen glanced sideways at him. "You're sure?"

Zach rolled his eyes. "I'll pull out my wallet if you want."

Owen smiled and opened his mouth. But whatever he was going to say was interrupted as Claire pushed herself between then. "No, no, no!" She shouted. "You!" She pointed at Owen. "You stay away!"

"I'm in college!" Zach said.

Claire frowned and glanced over her shoulder at him. "No you aren't."

Zach rolled his eyes again and shook his head. "I will show you my college ID."

Claire shook her head. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. You are still half his age!" She turned back to Owen and pointed at him. "I told you! NO!"

Owen held up his hands and backed away a step. "It was the mistletoe!" He snapped, passing the blame onto the plant. "He was standing under it and it's a Christmas law that you have to kiss whoever is under the mistletoe!"

Claire crossed her arms and glared at him. She didn't look convinced. In fact, she looked the farthest from it. "Seriously? Christmas law?"

Owen nodded. "Yeah, I'd totally kiss anyone under the mistletoe."

Zach's mouth dropped open. "Hey!"

"Anyone?" Claire repeated, making that word sound like a challenge.

Owen nodded his head. "Yeah!"

"What is all this yelling?"

Owen heard the voice and in the back of his mind, he knew who it belonged to. Of course he did. But in that second, the voice wasn't registering in his brain and he acted on impulse. Because the owner of the voice had walked down the hall and entered the room and was now standing in the doorway, between him and Zach. And was right under the mistletoe. Owen turned, grabbed the stunned man, and planted a kiss right on his lips. There were a few collective gasps around the room and Owen quickly stepped back, letting go of his victim. He cleared his throat, dropped his gaze, and scratched at the back of his neck. "Uh... welcome back to the party, Simon. Uh... sorry."

Simon quickly regained composure and straightened himself. He brushed off his suit and nodded his head. "Perfectly alright now... can we get the party started again?"

Claire nodded her head, her eyes still wide. "Yes, yes, sir, we can. Get the music back on!" She added with a snap. She grabbed Simon's arm and attempted to guide him away without further incident. She glanced back and sent Owen a glare. _This isn't over._ She mouthed the words.

Owen breathed out and turn back to Zach with a smile. But his smile quickly fell when he was met with a rather impressive glare, one he was sure could rival Claire's. For a moment, he wondered if it ran in the family. "What?"

Zach continued to glare for a moment longer. He puffed out his chest and stood up straighter. Then without taking his glare off Owen, he reached up and snatched the hanging mistletoe. He yanked it loose and stepped closer to Owen. "There. Now it's mine." He snapped. "So you only get to kiss me."

A smile spread across Owen's face again. "I can do that."

"Good." Zach grabbed Owen's hand and pulled him out into the hallway.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

**Author's Notes:** Hope you enjoyed the cheesy giggles! 8D


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